History of Late Night TV

Johnny Carson will be remembered as the king of late night. But his legacy will live on for many years due to his generous charitable contributions. In 2005 he gave $5 million to start a cancer center at the hospital in his hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska. That same year he gave another $5 million to his alma mater, University of Nebraska for their school of theater, film and broadcasting. The school was named the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. In 2013, Johnny's estate gifted a $425,000 grant to the theatre department at Norfolk, Nebraska's high school. 

 

Why did people watch Johnny? What was his appeal? There are many reasons that he had the staying power and people welcomed him into heir homes night after night. He wanted everyone on his show to shine, especially young up-and-coming comedians. He knew that it is a daunting challenge to achieve success as a comic. He was not selfish. He had the spotlight all right, but he shared it with others. He didn't engage in mean spirited or obscene humor. Today's comics are often obsessed with cringe humor and jokes about bodily functions. He was at ease and genial with celebrities and "regular people" as well. His segments with animals could be educational as well as entertaining.  No wonder that animal experts Joan Embery and Jim Fowler were frequent guests. He commented on politics but seemed to make fun of the left and the right equally.

 

In his book "Here's Johnny" Ed McMahon commented on how he was asked the same question over and over by fans. "What is Johnny really like?" Many saw him as cold and aloof, but he was actually very shy. Ed said that Johnny was great with 10 million people, not so great with 10 people. Some thought he had ice water in his veins, no emotions. Ed said there were a few times where he saw Johnny close to tears. One occassion was the time that Jimmy Stewart was on the show reading a poem about his dog Bo who had died. Johnny also became emotional when he was presented an inscribed copy of the book Roots by the author Alex Haley. Of course, on the next to last episode when Bette Midler serenaded him and presented him with a flower lei afterwards he was close to tears and so was she. So, he was not made of stone, he was not aloof, he was simply someone who was guarded and wary of others. Johnny said in an interview that he liked to be in control. On his show, he was the master and commander, in complete control. Outside of the show he was not, so he was careful about controlling his interactions with others. 

 

Nevertheless, we are lucky to have "known" this man, a master of his craft, even if it was just his TV persona. What a gift he had, to be able to make so many laugh for 3 decades. The show was a refuge,an oasis where we could forget about our everyday stresses of getting through life, if only for an hour.